Is it Possible to Sharpen a Chisel Well With Stones and no Jig?

[Steve H Graham]

I'm full of annoying questions this week.

I got my #4 plane working, and I worked on the Woodriver shoulder plane that arrived yesterday, and that made me cocky. I decided to try to sharpen an old Buck Bros. chisel my dad stole and left out in the rain for weeks.

I got nowhere with the jig I made for sharpening metal lathe tools in the bench grinder. It just wasn't appropriate, and I kept hacking it up.

I have always been good at sharpening knives by hand. I got out some DMT diamond stones and sharpened the chisel the same way. I shot WD40 on the stones to make the crud dissipate. Long story short, I smoothed the edge off quickly and got it to line up with a machinist's square, and then I polished it with an 8000-mesh stone. I was surprised at how easy and fast it was.

Here is my question: is there any possibility whatsoever that an edge obtained this way is adequate? I would much rather do this than struggle with jigs.

It pops little hairs off of me pretty effortlessly, but I have never personally handled a professionally sharpened chisel, so I don't know what to expect.

Now I find myself peeling little curls off my workbench just to see it work.

06 14 15 Buck Brothers chisel sharpened on DMT stone.jpg

[Jim Koepke]

Here is my question: is there any possibility whatsoever that an edge obtained this way is adequate?

Can you think of a reason it shouldn't be adequate?

Welcome to the world of hand sharpening.

jtk

[Steve H Graham]

Can you think of a reason it shouldn't be adequate?

I keep seeing videos of guys with big boxes of waterstones, and I have no idea what I'm doing.

Welcome to the world of hand sharpening.

Thanks. I feel better.

[Warren Mickley]

Can you ride a bike without training wheels? It might be rough on a 70 year old who has never done it before.

[Phillip Dejardin]

It pops little hairs off of me pretty effortlessly...Now I find myself peeling little curls off my workbench just to see it work.

Sharp is sharp regardless of how you get there, and it sounds like you're there. Did you lap the back of the chisel so it's dead flat?

[David Wong]

I keep seeing videos of guys with big boxes of waterstones, and I have no idea what I'm doing

For myself, I find diamond plates too coarse for my japanese
chisels. The edge of the chisel can be somewhat brittle, and chip on a diamond plate. I also do not like the feeling of the chisel skating on glass, when I use diamond plates. Waterstones give me much more measured feedback. They may be slower, but I can do less damage on them than a diamond plate. All these issues can be solved if I had better technique.

[Stanley Covington]

The standard method of sharpening planes and chisels since they were first used by man was by hand, sans jigs. Jigs have their place, but they can quickly become a crutch. Many of those who learned using jigs will disagree vehemently, cherishing their habits.

The stones you use are up to you. The subject of stones and sharpening has been discussed on this forum more than any other single aspect of woodworking. Ad nauseum is not an exaggeration.

Stan

[Jim Matthews]

I check my planes and chisels with a little square as you've shown.

I find hand sharpening only a challenge with really narrow chisels
and my jointer blade, which is more than 2" wide.

FYI - I'm migrating to using two Arkansas stones and a strop.
My diamond plates have been relegated to prepping chipped
or old irons. I'm faster with a couple stones and a few drops of oil.

I believe that three things bear mentioning when sharpening by hand.

I raise a burr, to be sure.
(Those with a practiced eye may be able to stop sooner, but I can feel a burr that I can't see.)

You can bear down on an oil stone.
(It's a precise, but not delicate operation.)

The stop is insurance.
(Experienced sharpeners may not need this step, but a stropped edge gleams.)

If you can pare the end grain of Eastern White pine, which is soft and prone to break out,
then your chisel is genuinely sharp. I keep a small piece for this test.

It's perverse, but you need sharper tools to cleanly cut softer wood.

FYI - I hone on a convex bevel, so I can see what I'm doing. Some consider this wasteful.
For me, it works and I can see the scratch pattern clearly.

I did not have success hand honing some of the modern steels which are harder than my tatty old Marples set.

[Kees Heiden]

Nope, impossible. You can't sharpen a chisel without jigs. It's been proven time and time again by hundreds of amateur sharpeners. Without their jigs they would be nowhere. You need the LV Mk2 and the LV MK2 with narrow blade atachement. You also need the Kell jig with all the appendices for those irons that don't fit into the MK2's. And the new drawknife jig of course. Plus a couple of the cheap Eclipse ones because they are so chaep. Plus something to jig knifes. And you should start on develloping a jig for gouges, all types from the V-tool to the bend U-shaped ones.

You also need at least 3 diamond plates, 14 modern waterstones, a certified granite reference table, and all the types of sandpaper available on this little planet, including the 3M lapping papers. And for other tools you also need the complete range of oilstones, India coarse to fine, Washita, Arkansas soft, hard and black. Several Japanese natural stones and a Belgian coticule.

Did I forget anything? Oh yes, the Tormek of course. How could I forget such an important implement.

[Brian Holcombe]

Don't forget the microscope!

[steven c newman]

Yeah....riiiight....

Don't have a diamond anything. Sandpaper, India Medium stone, 1K Oil stones, more sandpapers, and a leather strop. Had a MKI jig....somewhere.
IMAG0138.jpg
The wider one was abused, edge was at a skew. Square to mark a straight line, ground same. Then the sharpening could begin. No jigs used.

[Joe Tilson]

Steven,
I have tried everything to sharpen blades.
I just kept going back to oil stones for the finish work.
Found out, If it makes a shaving and works for you, do it.
I even use a piece of brick for the rough work, and sand paper
as well then oil stones.
I am working on a Sandusky blade now which will not fit in a jig, as it is tapered.
It has been ground poorly and I will not grind blades anymore, so freehand it will be.
In some cases what is said here in just so much baloney.

[Brian Holcombe]

Jig, no jig or.....both

[Garrett Ellis]

I have started to freehand more despite owning a veritas mkII jig in an effort to simplify. I know my blades are sharp when I can shave my face with one while using the other as a mirror.

[Prashun Patel]

I'm trying more and more to sharpen freehand. I find chisels far easier to freehand than plane blades. Something about the thickness, and the narrowness that just makes it straight forward to free hand.

Establishing the hollow grind or primary bevel is the trick.